Dr. Bonnie Riechert, assistant professor of communication studies and PRSSA faculty adviser, will speak Friday, July 13, at the annual conference of the Tennessee Advancement Resources Council (TARC) at the Scarritt-Bennett Center in Nashville. Riechert will discuss the topic, “Ten Essential Skills in Today’s Workplace.” TARC includes alumni, development and public relations professionals working for education in Tennessee at every level. The organization was established in 1973 to promote both professional and educational excellence in the schools, colleges and universities of Tennessee. Keynote speaker will be John Seigenthaler, founder of the First Amendment Center.
Belmont PR Students Work for First Amendment Center
Twenty-six public relations students conducted a nationwide telephone survey on behalf of the First Amendment Center in Nashville. As part of a class project, the students called random-digit-dial telephone numbers from across the United States, surveying Americans’ views of the First Amendment implications of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. The survey results were published June 4 on the First Amendment Web site and all students were listed as researchers on the document. The research analysis, written by PR Professor Pam Parry, can be accessed by clicking here.
Alumna Receives Role on Broadway Tour
Belmont alumna Erica Cantrell received a part in the Broadway Tour of Ring of Fire, the story of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. The tour begins in October and can be seen in cities throughout the United States and Canada. Erica is a graduate of the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Murphree Quoted in Tennessean
Dr. Steven Murphree, Professor of Biology, was quoted in the Tennessean on July 5 in an article on fireflies. To read the article, click here.
King Awarded Teacher Residency
Dr. Merrie King, Associate Professor of Education, was awarded a self-guided one-week Teacher Residency by the Nancy M. and Douglas M. Yeager Family Foundation, in partnership with the Fetzer Institute and in cooperation with the GilChrist Retreat Center. The dates are July 2 – July 9, 2007. The residencies provide selected teachers with the opportunity to spend a quiet week of reflection, writing, reading and planning for the following school year and beyond. These residencies are based on Nancy Yeager’s lifelong interest in and commitment to childhood education. Her love of teaching inspired her family to establish these residencies at GilChrist Retreat Center. This is the fifth year that the residencies are being offered.
Belmont Student Places 2nd Runner Up in Miss Tennessee
Belmont student and music performance major, Tucker Perry, finished second runner up in the Miss Tennessee Pageant held in Jackson, Tenn., on June 23. Her title of Miss Metropolitan Tennessee automatically entered her into the statewide competition of which the winner competes for the Miss America title. Perry’s platform as Miss Metropolitan is Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Recent Success with Commercial Voice Alumni
Three commercial voice alumni boast recent accomplishments:
Contemporary Christian artist Daniel Kirkley ’01 recently signed to Centricity Records with distribution by Word. His debut CD is entitled “Let Love Win” with the first single, “My New Dawn.” He will begin a radio tour in the fall and is now doing promotions for
the CD on television programs across the country. To find out more about Kirkley and check out his new album, visit www.danielkirkley.com-check.
Crystal Blewett, who now goes by Crystal Dove, recently released a single which spent time at number 1 on the Billboard chart for six weeks. The single, “Until you Come Back to Me,” is performed with the rapper, Dice.
Ryan Greenawalt and Carly Nelson are part of the group “Anthem Ave” and have just completed a new record called, “When Angels Come.” They had their CD release on May 15 and are now touring with this record across the country.
Sturgis Edits Latest Title on C.S. Lewis
The Mythopoeic Press announces a new title coming soon: Past Watchful Dragons: Fantasy and Faith in the World of C.S. Lewis, edited by Amy H. Sturgis, adjunct instructor at Belmont University.
This volume provides a broad sample of the research presented at the “Past Watchful Dragons: Fantasy and Faith in the World of C.S. Lewis” international conference held at Belmont University on November 3-5, 2005. The contributing scholars reflect a truly interdisciplinary discussion representing the fields of literature, theology, history, and popular culture. The assembled essays offer insights on the messages of C.S. Lewis’s fiction and nonfiction, the dramatic adaptations of his work, the influence of his faith, and his relevance to related fantasy literature and authors as contemporary as J.K. Rowling. These diverse contributions combine to offer a better understanding and appreciation of the life and legacy of C.S. Lewis.
Essays in this volume cover topics such as The Chronicles of Narnia, adaptations, Lewis and literature, Lewis and faith, and related authors. The volume will be available in the summer 2007. Click here for additional details and ordering information.
Belmont Launches Study Abroad Program in Japan
Belmont’s inaugural travel-study program to Japan recently returned to Nashville after a three-week program abroad. A group of 10 students led by Dr. Jonathan Thorndike (Honors) and Dr. John Paine (English and Foreign Languages) joined a group of five students from Michigan State University at the Japan Center for Michigan Universities in Hikone, Shiga Prefecture. The theme for the course was “The Modern Samurai: 20th Century Japan.”
The program featured a combination of traditional class time with visits to a variety of sites representing ancient and modern Japan. The group toured the historic Asakusa market district of Tokyo as well as the high-tech enclaves of Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Akihabara and Harajuku. They also visited ancient Buddhist and Shinto sites in Kamakura, Nara, Kyoto and Otsu. Students were given the opportunity to take in a baseball game in Osaka and a sumo wrestling tournament in Tokyo. The group also spent time in reflection at the International Peace Park and Museum in Hiroshima.
The Belmont group received a special invitation to visit the Bridgestone Museum of Art in Tokyo, where they viewed an impressive collection of European artwork. They also toured the Nissan Oppama assembly plant in Kanagawa. On their last evening in Tokyo, the Belmont students met with a group of Japanese Belmont alumni so they could compare notes on experiences in Nashville.
Belmont is planning a second Japan travel-study program for May of 2008. The program will be led by Dr. Paine, Dr. Andrea Stover, and Dr. Thorndike. The focus of this program will be “Kyoto: Capital of Japanese Culture” and will be conducted during 19 days in Otsu and Kyoto, Japan. The purpose is to introduce students to “deep Japan” based on a study of selected texts and on site visits to Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and Nara. In addition to the study and temple and shrine visits, students will have the opportunity to study works by Basho, the greatest of haiku poets, and Nobel Prize winner Kawabat’s novel set in Kyoto.
Dr. Stover will offer a writing course in conjunction with the program and this fall Belmont will off Japanese language as a regular academic course of study.
Belmont Student Wins SUNY Award
Belmont student Stephen Strother was awarded the “Spirit of Conference” award for his paper entitled, “Montaigne, Plato, Philosophy and Death” at the 12th Annual State University of New York Undergraduate Philosophy Conference. This year, there were 68 submissions from 41 institutions in 20 states, including Canada. Of the 68 submissions, 35 papers were chosen by blind review. Since Belmont students began attending this conference in 2000, Belmont has won an award each year.
Strother also received first place in the annual Stacy Awalt Essay Award Contest at Belmont for his paper entitled “A Return to ‘Kripkenstein’: Skepticism, Rules, and Paradox.”
